Volkswagen Scirocco could return

There are some hurdles, but the sporty Scirocco two-door is on the wish list for Australia, says Volkswagen.

23 September 2009Barry Park

2008 Volkswagen Scirocco Photo:

2008 Volkswagen Scirocco Photo:

2008 Volkswagen Scirocco Photo:

2008 Volkswagen Scirocco Photo:

2008 Volkswagen Scirocco Photo:

2008 Volkswagen Scirocco Photo:

Performance versions of the Volkswagen Golf will need to go on sale before any decision is made to bring the Scirocco coupe, the head of the company in Australia says.

Recently appointed Volkswagen Australia managing director Anke Koeckler told Drive that the Scirocco's price was proving to be a sticking point for Volkswagen, with a divide between what price the factory wants to set for the car and the price point that Volkswagen Australia believes the car needs to sell at.

2008 Volkswagen Scirocco

?We want to launch the (petrol-engined) Golf GTI and the (diesel-engined) GTD in Australia before we think about the Scirocco,? Ms Koeckler said.

?We also have to make sure that we're not encouraging the cheapening of (the Golf GTI) sports car early in its life cycle.?

Volkswagen Australia's worry is that a base-model Scirocco will compete on price with the Golf GTI, which currently sells for just over $40,000 for the soon-to-be-superseded fifth-generation Golf. The new model arrives late this year.

Ms Koeckler said one way to get around the problem would be to only bring in a high-performance ?R? version of the Scirocco, making it a single model rather than a full-model line-up.

However, she said this was still not a certainty, with the company yet to determine if bringing in a parts and servicing support network for a single model was viable.

?We will never launch a car in Australia that wasn't profitable for the dealers,? she said.

The Golf-based Scirocco three-door hatchback went on sale in Europe late in 2008.

The four-seater is available with a mix of petrol and diesel engines.

The R version uses a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine producing 195kW of power and 350Nm of torque through the front wheels. A special electronic differential lock helps the Scirocco R get its power down onto the road.

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